


Beach Body

by Skyler10



Series: Family Fic [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Beaches, Bikinis, Body Image, F/M, Fluff, Gossip, Humor, post-baby body
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 23:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7484529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyler10/pseuds/Skyler10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose and the Doctor have left their six-month-old at home in the care of Jackie and Pete while they have an anniversary trip to a beach planet. What they didn’t expect was that Rose’s insecurities about her post-baby body would take physical form in a group of catty women.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beach Body

**Author's Note:**

> This is the requested sequel to Baby Body, last week's fic! http://archiveofourown.org/chapters/16915573?show_comments=true&view_full_work=false#comment_68336596 Potential trigger warning for postpartum body image issues. But I hope that even if this is an issue for you, you'll be cheering by the end. ;)

Rose gathered her courage and stripped off her sheer cover-up. The Doctor had convinced her to wear the bikini today, and though she wasn’t completely happy with the way she looked in the mirror, his appreciation for it propelled her out of the TARDIS, down the street to the sand, and onto the beach in confidence. That confidence slipped a bit as she noticed something unexpected – or rather, some _ones_.

Three rather wealthy and powerful women she’d met through a “women in intergalactic diplomacy” conference were currently on _this_ beach, right here on Caribbia, a planet known throughout this sector as ideal for island-style getaways. How she and the Doctor managed to land at the same exact spot as people they already knew was always beyond her, but at this exact moment, she chalked it up to bad luck. Things had been going a little _too_ well recently since settling into life with the baby. Better this than something more serious. Besides, despite Rose’s initial prejudices, the posh ladies had seemed kind, charming, and genuinely interested in getting to know Rose, asking her all about Earth and Torchwood and commiserating about the downsides of being in the public eye.

“Oh, hallo, ladies!” the Doctor greeted with a wide grin. Rose tugged his arm in a silent message to not be overly enthusiastic, but he ignored her. “Nice day for it, innit? Of course, it’s designed to be this way, so no real surprise there. The Caribbian government installed the atmospheric enhancers years ago.”

“Yes, indeed. My grandfather funded its development.” said the ringleader, a ginger woman with skin as pure as cream and eyes an icy blue. Her closed-lipped smile was a sign of mild interest to the Doctor, but Rose knew better.

“Is that right?” Rose asked politely, still pulling on the Doctor to move along to the water.

“So,” a raven-haired beauty never far from the ginger’s side interrupted, “did I hear you were with child, Rose?”

“I was!” Rose confirmed, grateful for the change of topic to something she never tired of discussing. “Little girl. She’s six months old now.”

“Bollocks, here I am without a single photo,” the Doctor lamented. “She’s beautiful, just trust me on that.” He winked, making the posh ladies smile in a way that unsettled Rose, despite their domestic conversation.

“Well, I’m sure we have kept you from enjoying yourselves long enough,” the ginger dismissed them.

“Do stay in touch though,” the raven-haired one urged, not-so-subtly checking out the Doctor at the same time.

“I’m sure we will,” Rose returned with a tight smile. She was finally successful at redirecting the Doctor to the ocean. The poor man furrowed his brow when they turned away, confused by what was happening to make Rose so demanding on his hand intertwined with hers.

They soon forgot the encounter with its fluttering of long lashes and the way the ladies’ model-thin bodies posed sensually on their lounge chairs and the way they hardly tried to hide their “admiration” of the Doctor’s lean form and the way his hair only looked more perfect windswept by the sea breeze.

Well, “forgot” may not be the right word. The Doctor genuinely didn’t notice in the first place, and Rose only told herself she forgot, while disciplining herself to focus on spending much-needed time with her husband. The trick worked, regardless, and they basked in their freedom from responsibility and schedules and a little person constantly needing their attention. They played together, teasing and laughing, simply enjoying each other’s presence.

It wasn’t until later, when she went to the bar to order drinks while the Doctor rented a large sun-umbrella and a pair of lounge chairs, that she was brought low again in the most classic of feminine cruelties.

Hidden from sight by a decorative bamboo divider between the bar counter and the dining area, but nonetheless well within earshot, the posh ladies let their tongues wag freely.

“I’m sorry,” one said. “I’m STILL not over the Rose Tyler sighting. Does Earth not have postpartum skin tightening machines?”

“Perhaps not, but being travelers, you’d think they could pick up something to get rid of those…”

“Stripes?” a third cackled, sending the rest of the table along with her.

“She could at least _try_ something before squeezing into that bikini. Have some decency, for Zog’s sake.”

By now, Rose could hardly breathe for the lump in her throat. One thing was for sure, if she didn’t leave now, she was either going to burst into tears or burst through that decorative screen and punch one of them in the face.

Luckily, she was saved from that decision by the bartender asking for her order. She tried to control the shaking in her voice as she spoke, sliding her credit stick across the counter, hoping the bartender wouldn’t notice the name on it matched the name being gossiped about a few feet away. He couldn’t have cared less, however, and set about making her daiquiris (strawberry for herself, banana for the Doctor, of course.)

But while she waited, the chatter continued.

“Well, at least that Doctor hasn’t changed a bit.”

“Oooh, but he is yummy.”

“I want one of those with a cherry on top.” They all giggled at this.

“Forget the cherry, I’ll be on top!”

“Poor thing. Must be whipped if he’s still sticking around for _that_. If I’d married an Earth girl with such backwards beauty customs, I’d be looking around. I’m just saying.”

“Who says he isn’t? I heard he’s got a few house calls to make, if you know what I mean.” This led to several gasps and a renewed round of cackles.

Rose assumed at this point they were fairly sloshed, as she couldn’t imagine even her most risqué friends saying such a thing in public about a married man they knew, especially one who wasn’t far away with his wife. She made up her mind as the bartender handed her the daiquiris. She took a large swig of her own for liquid luck, and marched over to their table.

The look on their faces was priceless.

“Oh, hello, ladies! Fancy seeing you twice in one day.”

“Oh! Um, hi Rose!” they mumbled and smiled with wide eyes back at her, knowing they’d been caught but too drunk to do anything to save the situation.

“No. Don’t start,” Rose warned. “Talk shit about me all you want, but don’t you ever talk about my husband like that again. He’s _mine_. And for your information, he loves the way I look. I don’t understand it any more than you do, but it’s true. And he tells me to be proud of it. And you know what? I am. Because there is not a single thing any of you can bitch about that would make me ashamed of my little girl. And I don’t regret wearing this bikini one bit because these stripes, as you call them? They are badges of honor in his eyes, and mine too now. And I’m not going to hide that just to live up to whatever rules you set. No one appointed you the fashion police, so you can shove off and shut up!”

Rose didn’t realize she was shouting at them now and had the attention of several tables in the dining area. One tall, heavy-set pink woman stood up and applauded, soon joined by her blue, short companion and several other women in the vicinity, more than a few with their young on their hips or in this planet’s version of highchairs.

“You look beautiful, darling!” an older female alien called out as Rose stared at her unintended audience.

“Um, thank you.” Rose nodded and blushed in gratitude.

“Rose, we didn’t mean…” the ginger-haired leader began, ever the diplomat.

“No.” Immediately, Rose’s ferocity was back. “I mean it. You even come _near_ my husband, any of you, and I’ll slap you to the next star system. Got it?”

The posh ladies nodded and picked at their salads with their forks.

“Good.” Satisfied, Rose marched off.

By the time she made it back across the sand, the daiquiris were a little worse for the wear, more melted than slushy, as intended. And hers was half gone from anger-fueled sucking on the straw as she walked.

“What happened to the…” the Doctor began, seeing the drinks first, then her face. “Rose? What happened?”  

He took the drinks and set them on the table between the lounge chairs, then pulled her down onto the same chair he was currently occupying.

“Love?” he prodded, stroking a hand up and down her bare back as she struggled for words. Now that the moment was over, the adrenaline was giving way to hurt and betrayal.

“Y’know the women we talked to earlier?”

“The ones from the conference thing?”

“Yeah, they were near the bar, but they didn’t know I was there. They said—Doctor, they said terrible things about…”

“About what? Earth? The banana daiquiri? Don’t tell me they were speaking ill of bananas,” he teased, trying to cheer her up.

“About us,” she mumbled.

“Us?”

“Me, about the way I look, ya know. In this.” She gestured to her bikini with a shaking hand. “And you, how you probably had other women, which is why you didn’t mind staying with a cow like me, and if ya didn’, they’d be more than happy to take the job.”

“Oh, Rose,” he pulled her close with exhale of shock and sympathy. “None of what they said is true, not a single word. C’mere.” He leaned back on the lounge chair and she lay down with him, taking comfort in his strong, secure embrace. She pillowed her head on his chest, and he ran his fingertips across her back and down her arm, as they did in bed at home.

“I’m so sorry they turned out not to be such good friends after all,” he said after a while. “I really hoped they would be.”

“Hmm?” Rose hadn’t anticipated this.

“Well, you’ve got me, of course, and Jackie and Pete, and our friends from Torchwood, but I was afraid that as a new mum, you’d need some female friends who can give you what I can’t. I’ve read that this can be a lonely time, and I don’t ever want you to feel like that.”

“Doctor.” She raised up and met his eye. “I’m fine. I wasn’t even expecting to be friends with them, really. It’s not that. It’s just that I thought when I met them they would be like this, and I allowed myself to believe the best about them, and then it turns out they were even worse than I feared.”

“Don’t let this stop you, Rose. That’s one of the things that made me fall in love with you, you know.”

“What’s that?”

“Believing the best about people. Even when you know they don’t deserve it.”

“Hm.” Rose laid back down on the Doctor, letting his gentle touch sooth her distress.

“What did you do? When you heard them… because I know you and I know you didn’t just take it. What did you do?” he asked with a note of genuine curiosity in his tone.

“Oh. Well, I… went and told them off.”

“Of course you did.” The Doctor laughed below her, sending the vibrations through his chest against her cheek. She bit back a smile and continued.

“And then I guess I was louder than I thought I was because everyone in the place heard, and they sort of applauded. One older woman shouted back that I was beautiful, but it was all these other mums in there – Doctor, no matter what species they were, I could tell, they needed what I was saying as much as I did. There was someone _finally_ saying what they needed to hear. No matter what planet we live on, there’s all these women like those posh ladies tryin’ to tell us how to look and dress and be a mum, and I think the mums applauding were just so happy that finally someone stood up and confronted it, even if it was just to a few drunk women in a beachside bar. I don’t even know what I said, I was so angry.”

The Doctor squeezed her tight and kissed her temple.

“Rose Tyler, I am so proud of you. Whatever you said, I’m sure it was brilliant and deserved every bit of applause. In fact, I’d do it right now myself, but my hands are a bit occupied.” He drew a simple heart over her shoulder blade.

“Thanks,” she giggled against him.  “I do remember one line they said though. They were talking about you and said something like ‘I’ll have one of those with a cherry on top!’”

“One what?!”

“One of you, silly. And then another said somethin’ like—I’ll never forget this—‘Never mind the cherry, I’ll be on top!’ I think I was most mad about that because I didn’t think of it first.” Now that the moment was over and she was here in his arms, the full comic effect set in. She laughed and kissed his chest. “I also remember telling them in no uncertain terms that you were mine and I’d slap any of ‘em who acted otherwise.”

“Damn right,” the Doctor mumbled. “If anyone’s going to be my cherry on top, it’s you and only you. No, better than that, you’re my entire sundae. Oooo, sundaes. Rose?”

“Mmhmm?”

“Our drinks are melted and hot now. Wanna get ice cream?”

Rose grinned and sat up, leaning down over his big dark eyes, filled with hope.

“Yes, because you’ve been a very, very good husband and deserve a treat. You’re buying this time though. Those—” she nodded to the ruined drinks, “were lost in part to defending your honor.”

“And I’m very grateful. Not to mention disappointed I didn’t get to hear the standing ovation after your speech.”

“Oh goodness.” She shook her head, knowing he would never let that one go. She bent down to peck a kiss to his lips as a form of distraction, but he saw it coming and pulled her back down to deepen it into a full-on snog.

When they parted for air, she dropped a little kiss to the tip of his nose, then sat up fully to gather their belongings and search for the nearest sundae shop. She also glanced around to see if anyone had seen them snogging like teenagers.

Someone had. Or rather, again, someones.

The posh women were paused in their walk across the sand, gaping as if they clearly hadn’t expected to find the sight in front of them. The Doctor noticed, but instead of speaking, sat up behind her and began kissing down her neck and shoulder. She tilted her head to give him better access, and let her eyelids fall shut in pleasure and a content smile play at her lips. He wrapped his arms securely around Rose before raising his eyes to the women, the Oncoming Storm ablaze in his stare.

 _Run_ his eyes said, _run and don’t you ever speak a word against my wife again._

They didn’t stick around long enough to read in his expression what would happen if they disobeyed. Rose couldn’t help her amusement as the women scrambled across the beach, prancing like disgruntled chickens. When they were gone, she stood and held out a hand for him.

“C’mon, you. If you didn’t deserve ice cream before, you certainly did after that.”

“Oh my lovely wife, the treat is all mine,” he replied, voice low and intense. “And later, I’m going to show you just how hot you look in that bikini. No, I haven’t forgotten my promise from this morning, and if anything, it’s you who deserves more _treats_ than I had even planned.”

“What kind of treats?” she asked, fluttering eyelashes and mischievous lip bite giving away her innocence.

“You know exactly what kind,” he laughed, but pinched her bum anyway. She spanked his bum back, and they took turns flirting as they made their way to the beachside ice cream shop, where Rose was complimented twice on her bikini and they were asked if they were newlyweds by multiple strangers.

And for those who are curious, the Doctor didn’t forget his promise when they got back to the TARDIS to show Rose just how much her tiny controversial choice of swimwear turned him on.

 


End file.
